Fallen Shinigami
by Heartilly
Summary: Hilde received a message from a secret admirer to make Duo jealous, but when a tragedy happen, could Hilde receive the truth?
1. Default Chapter Title

Fallen Shinigami   
Section 1: Duo's new look   
  
Author's note: Disclaimers Standards apply here. Please don't flame or sue me. I'm only doing this fanfic because I'm extremely bored. Gundam Wing characters except Kotori Shiou belong to its rightful owner(s).  
  
'Why that two-timer Duo! He promised me to be here by 1 o'clock, and this is 3 o'clock, and he's still not here yet! What exactly does he want? Calling me to be here by 1, and he himself wasn't even here yet. Hmph! I had enough! I'm going back.' I thought angrily as I walked away from the park, when suddenly, I spotted Duo's brown long braid.   
  
"Hildey! Hildey! Wait! I'm sorry, Hildey!" It was Duo…I should've known. What kind of reason would he give me now?   
  
When he caught up with me, he was panting, and tried to gain control of his breath.   
  
"Hildey (hosh) sorry (gasp) I'm (hhh) late (hosh)." He said while trying to catch is breath.   
  
"Hold up, Duo. Catch your breath." I said calmly to him, calming him down.   
  
"Hilde, I'm sorry. I'm awfully sorry. I tried to come here in time, but my office got all messy again, and I can't find my document paper, so I have to spend 1.5 hours trying to find it, and I still can't find it. I'm sorry to made you wait for 2 hours." He said with both hands above his head, bowing repeatedly at me.   
  
I laughed at his reaction, and just replied, "Duo Maxwell, you should clean your office! Anyways, why did you call me here?"   
  
Duo smirked in embarrassment, and replied, "Actually, I have another mission coming up with Heero and the others, so I would be leaving tomorrow to L1 colony. I couldn't possibly go to the breakfast party with you tomorrow morning, I'm very sorry. I'll make it up to you sometimes."   
  
I was silence for a second, and I could see that Duo was getting worried that I was mad at him, and that I might not help him find his stuffs. I wouldn't do that, right? After all, he's such a nice guy, and he helped me from the mobile dolls assaults a couple of times. It's true that I'm mad at him about being late ALL the time, but I still LIKE him.   
  
Considering his concern to me, I replied, "It's okay, Duo. I know how important it is to you. Good luck. And come back alive, okay?"   
  
Duo's head was raised up in happiness, and he answered me cheerfully,   
  
"Really? You're not mad? Thank you, thank you, Hilde! You're the best!"   
  
I giggled at his answer, when suddenly he caught me by the waist and raised me up in the air. I yelled at him to put me down.   
  
"Duo, you fool! Put me down, people are watching us, you know?"   
  
"So what? Let them be, they're just jealous!" Finally, Duo returned me to the ground, and once my feet touched the ground, I started walking away from the park. Duo chased after me, and eventually he caught up.   
  
"Hildey, wait up! Are you still mad?"   
  
"No, Duo, I'm fine. Anyways, Relena gave me an invitation to her wedding today. Her wedding is tomorrow. I'm going to attend it, how about you?"   
  
"For sure, but with who is ojousan married to?"   
  
"Duo, you know who! Don't act dumb in front of me. Of course her all time prince charming, Heero Yuy a.k.a. Odin Lowe Jr.! Duo no baka!" I yelled at him, and advanced through our office, a pretty big office that stood in the middle of two buildings owned by the Winner Company, Quatre's company.   
  
Duo ran to catch up with me, as he replied, "Alright, alright. Sorry, Hildey. Hildey! Wait for me!"   
  
I unlocked our office building and went inside. Once I went in, I peered through Duo's office window. Holy moly! There's papers scattered everywhere. When Duo arrived at the office, I gazed at him accusingly. Duo glanced back at me, nervous. He started to sweat, and finally gave me his excuse.   
  
"Uhh, that's when I was looking for the paper. It's natural to be messy when you're looking for something, right? Ha ha ha." He laughed nervously.   
  
I screamed at him,   
  
"Maxwell, get in there now! I could've find your document paper if it wasn't this messy. Duo! Get in there, and clean it up! Quick!"   
  
"Uhn, okay, okay…" He replied, and walked hesitantly to his incredibly messy office, and started cleaning it off.   
  
I went in, and helped him to find the paper. Duo searched from a pile to the other.   
  
"Nope, not here."   
  
"Not here."   
  
"Uh uh"   
  
"Nope"   
  
"Where in the world could it possibly be? Hildeeee…" Duo started to whine again.   
  
"Calm down, Maxwell. First, sort out that pile of papers into the drawers. NEATLY!"   
  
Duo went to the nearest pile, and started to sort them by category grudgingly.   
  
Finally, after 3 hours of cleaning, I finally found the paper. "Here it is, Duo."   
  
"Yes! Hurrah!"   
  
His office was now clean, and everything is in order. I shrugged my head in amazement as he jumped up and down on the floor. Then, he went to me, and dragged me to jump with him. I refused, and walked away towards my office. I arrived at my office, and when I opened the door, papers flew everywhere. Duo stared at me nervously. I glanced back at him, and gave him my best 'I'm gonna kill you for this' look.   
  
He backed away from my office, trying to flee. But, right before he went into his office, I caught the collar of his shirt, and dragged him to my office. Once again, I scolded him.   
  
"DUO MAXWELL! What the heck did you do with my office?"   
  
He answered me with a mischievous smile, and then shrugged it off. "I didn't do it, Hilde. I was looking for my paper. I didn't go in there and mess up your C cabinet."   
  
"Duo…if you didn't mess my office up, who else could've done it? You just gave up a clue that showed you were in my office. How did you know it was C cabinet?"   
  
Duo covered his mouth with both of his hands, and answered, "I guess, yeah, just a lucky guess."   
  
"Yeah right, Duo! Isn't that your fingerprints on my cabinet?"   
  
"Ah, ha ha ha…"   
  
"Come back here, Maxwell! You have to clean this up!"   
  
"No, Hilde, please! Anything but that!"   
  
"You have no choice, Duo Maxwell!"   
  
I proceeded to drag him by the ear into my office.   
  
"Aww, ouch, alright, alright! I'll do it."   
  
"That's more like it…"   
  
3 hours later…   
  
"Ahh, finally finished…Okay, can I go now?"   
  
"Yes, Duo. Domo arigato. But, you have one more task to do since you broke your promise."   
  
"What promise?"   
  
"You said that you were going to take me on a dinner yesterday, but you forgot, and went to sleep! Now, you have to pay me back! I was waiting 2 hours before I turn in also. Now, let's go. And, remember, you'll pay for all of the food."   
  
"Gulp…but, Hilde, you said that you were going to pay for the food. And besides, why didn't you wake me up so that we could go?" He returned my words, and smiled a mischievous smile.   
  
"Well, I didn't know where you slept until I discovered you this morning, so I can't wake you up. And anyways, since you broke the promise, you will be the one paying all the food. Now, go change in your room! I will be changing too, so no peeking!"   
  
I went upstairs to my room, while Duo went to his downstairs. When I arrived at my room, I locked the door, and opened my closet. I put on a cobalt blue sleeveless sundress embroidered with silver thread, and opened my braid. I accessorized my hair with a violet headband, and placed my faint-gold watch on my wrist. I looked at myself in the mirror for any errors while I put my make up on, and proceeded to my shoe closet. I picked out a pair of royal blue heels, and put it on my feet.   
  
"Wow, not bad at all, if I say so myself." I said as I looked once more at the mirror at my reflection.   
  
There was a knock on the door, and a voice calling out my name. Of course it was Duo.   
  
"Hildey, are you ready yet? Hildey?"   
  
I chuckled to myself once more, and proceeded to open the door. When I opened the door, Duo was staring at me, surprised and impressed.   
  
"Egad, Hilde! You look totally awesome!"   
  
"Thanks, Duo."   
  
I inspected him, and frowned.   
  
"Duo, where's your suit?"   
  
"I don't have one."   
  
"What! You think you're gonna go to Relena's wedding wearing that? No can do, Maxwell. We're going to get you some suit!"   
  
Duo ignored me, and I proceeded to drag him by the collar to the mall. I closed the door behind, and locked it. Duo was totally surprised, since he thought we're going to eat first.   
  
"Whoa, Hilde…Isn't the restaurant that way?"   
  
"We're not going to any restaurant, Mr. Maxwell. I have to get a suit for you, it's time you do, since tomorrow is Relena and Heero's wedding. Now, stop whining, and let's go."   
  
"But…but…but…I LIKE my clothes the way it is…I DON'T WANT NEW CLOTHES OR LOOKS!!! Hildeeeee…" He whines again and again until finally we reached the shopping mall. I proceeded to drag him into my favorite store, Cyberspace Clothes. There, the shopkeepers greeted me politely as always, and dragged Duo into the men's section while I went to the ladies' section to browse some summer clothes. From afar, I could hear Duo screaming from the dressing room. I could imagine that the shopkeepers are having the worst time of their live trying to get Duo to dress formally. Two minutes later, after all of the screaming and yelling, finally Duo calmed down. I looked across to see if everything's okay, and then went back browsing. Half an hour later, Duo came out with tears upon his face. I peered through the men's section and found out that Duo's hair was cut off into Heero's haircut. I swore I could've laugh like a freak at him if I didn't push myself not to laugh. I popped myself in to see him, and to tease him a bit.   
  
"Duo…awesome look! Thanks a million, Roger, Martha, Claire, and Dave. I owe you guys a lot."   
  
"Don't mention it, Hilde. We're glad to make over this young lad." They pushed themselves to smile politely, I know. They can't possibly have a great time with the stubborn Duo who is now checking out his new suit, until he realizes that I was looking. He looked back at me, and then turned his head away, slightly blushing, I could tell.   
  
I walked towards him, and complimented him,   
  
"Hey, Duo! You look awesome. See, I told you that you look better with formal clothes on. Anyways, I figure they cut your braids off, but you look more handsome this way."   
  
Duo blushed furiously, and then replied, "No way, Hildey. Look at me! I look like Heero now, with the haircut, and the formal suit. Hhhh…I bet that everyone's gonna tease me at the party, especially Wu-Man." He hangs his head down.   
  
I smiled, and said, "Aw, come on, Duo. You look super-terrific! Lighten up a bit!"   
  
"LIGHTEN UP? How could I lighten up if my braid was cut off? (sob) It's gonna take me years to grew it back to the full length. Well, since we're done here, can we go now? Puleaseeee?" He looked at me with his innocent puppy eyes, and of course, I couldn't refuse.   
  
I nodded, and went to the cashier to pay for his clothes and mine that I just bought.   
  
As we exited the mall, I could see that there were plenty of ladies that laid eyes on MY Duo. I wish they would just bug off! I wanted to scream very loudly at them to mind their own business and lay off MY Duo, but I controlled myself. Luckily, Duo didn't notice the girls, so I'm very glad. If he noticed them, I vowed to myself I would crush every bone he has in his body. (Wait a sec, looks like I'm jealous, huh? Duo does looks very handsome after he had his haircut. I'm serious; I like him even better now). I started to shift the shopping bag from left to right, till I accidentally hit Duo's leg.   
  
"Ouch! Hildey, what are you doing?   
  
"Aaa…nothing, Duo. Sorry…"   
  
He stared at me in confusion, and then looked away.   
  
After the exhausting shopping at the mall, we decided to stop by at the restaurant that Duo promised me for dinner. Of course, he had to pay the bills, and he pouted about it the whole time.   
  
When we exited the restaurant, and started to walk to our home, the company, I notice that somebody is following us. Duo noticed it too, for his whole body stiffed. After a couple steps from the restaurant, we stopped, and proceeded to take our guns that we hid in our pockets. We turned around, and pointed the gun at the figures that followed us. We advanced towards them, and saw a glimpse of a sandy-brown hair, and lock of neatly cut dark brown hair.   
  
The two figures appeared behind the dark, and greeted us cheerfully.   
  
"Hello, Duo, Hilde. Recognize us?" The woman started as she walked beside the other figure, and I can see that she's holding to her partner's arms very tightly.   
  
I could feel that my jaw is dropped open when I saw the two figures clearly from the darkness. It was Heero and Relena. What the heck are they doing following us?   
  
"Relena? Heero? What're you guys doing here? Why are you following us?" Duo started conversationally as he put his gun back in his pocket. I did the same after him.   
  
Relena replied cheerfully, "Hmmm…we're just here to eat at the restaurant. When we were about to enter, we saw you guys left the table, so we hid behind the door, and decided to follow you." When she finished her sentence, Relena noticed that there's something different about Duo.   
  
Relena whispered something into Heero's ears, and then both of them smirked at Duo. Duo was a bit confused at their reaction, but then realized that they had noticed his brand-new hairdo.   
  
"Well, Duo. Who cut your hair? You used to be very picky about your braid, and let absolutely no one but yourself to even touch it. Well?" Heero asked him while still smiling. I could tell that both Heero and Relena is holding back their laughter, since they know that it's not very polite to laugh at people.   
  
Duo replied nervously, "Ahhh…well, ummm…well, Hilde and I went to the shopping mall today. And the clerk there gave me the haircut. Of course, I look identical to Heero, now don't I, Relena, Heero? I told them a million times not to mess with my hair, but they injected this tranquilizer to make me shut up while they trimmed my hair."   
  
Relena smiled kindly to Duo, and then faced Heero again, who's giving her quite a romantic smile. As soon as they're done, Relena glanced to me.   
  
"So, Hilde. How did you manage to bring Duo to the shopping mall? The last time I brought Heero, he was feeling extremely uncomfortable, and always wanting to flee from the mall. I have to drag him in to the clothes store to get a nice suit for him, after all, he can't wear his tang tops and spandex shorts during our wedding, right?" She looked at Heero, who's blushing slightly.   
  
I replied calmly, "Well, I actually have to use certain tricks, and anyways, the clerks helped me to make-over him, so it was pretty easy. The only problem is that he whines, pouts, and scowled the whole way until we got inside the mall.   
  
"Is that so, Duo?" Heero suddenly asked his former partner.   
  
"Ugh…yes, I did..." Duo replied in embarrassment while trying hard to deny the truth.   
  
Heero nodded, and gave him a mischievous smile. Duo stared back at him, confused, but then he looked away. After a couple seconds of silence, Relena bid us farewell.   
  
"Okay, I guess we'll be going now. Bye, and see you tomorrow." Relena held on to Heero's arms, and they walked back to the restaurant. After a couple of seconds, they disappeared into the thin air. Duo and I just stared into the darkness, thinking of different thoughts, but quickly snapped back, and continued walking.   
  
Duo and I walked in silence, until finally we reached our office. I opened the door, and found out that papers were scattered everywhere, as if a tornado had just stricken it. I stared at the scattered paper, went in, and entered my office. As soon as I entered my office, I discovered a bouquet of pinks roses and a card addressed to me. I set the bouquet aside, and opened the card. Duo was behind me, trying to read the card over my shoulder, but I shoved him off. He scowled, and then walked back to his office. The card said:   
  
My dearest Hilde,   
  
I hope that you like the roses. It suits you very well.   
  
Sincerely,   
  
Your secret admirer   
  
I tossed the card in the trash bin, and thought. 'Who the heck is this person? Why is he messing with our office? And most of all, how in the world did he know my name, or my address?'  
  
*Who is this mysterious person, and what does he want with Hilde? And why would he or she mess up Duo's office? Find out in part 2, the secret admirer…  
  
Author's note: Well, how was it? This is my fourth attempt of making a fanfic, so please don't scold me for grammar mistakes, and lack of descriptions. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it. By the way, this fan fiction took place after the OVA series Endless Waltz, when the pilots are about 20 years old. Comments? E-mail me at aerial@mechpilot.com 


	2. Default Chapter Title

Fallen Shinigami  
Section 2: News…   
Author's note: Hi! Sorry for not continuing the story for a very long time, and I mean long. I've been postponing this story for quite a while (6 months). I was having a terrible writer's block. Well, okay nuff of that stuff. Disclaimers standards do apply here. Gundam Wing and all of its characters do not belong to me. They belong to ANB, Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, Bandai, and any other companies that own them. Kotori Shiou, Lions Company, and Kurt are registered to me, though. Also, there has been a change of plan…I'm not going to write about the secret admirer in this chapter, but about something else that just happen to flash in my mind as I write this fan fiction. Okay then, onto the fic.   
Duo's Office   
  
"Aggr…someone sent MY Hildey a bouquet! Man…who the heck is this person, and what does he want with my Hildey?" Duo frowned as he unconsciously cited these words.  
  
I heard his mumbling just as soon as I walked out the door of my office. I sighed, and went into his office to perform my usual 'good night' kiss. I could tell that he's really desperate to know the person that sent me the bouquet. 'Heck…I wanna know too. Geez…what does this person intend to do?' I thought silently.  
  
I entered Duo's office unnoticed and preceded to sneak up behind him. I just love to play tricks on him, after all…that's how we actually ended up together. Smiling, I tiptoed towards him and…"BOO!" Duo almost fell back, but he managed to regain his composure. I laughed as his face turns beet red from embarrassment. "Don't do that again, Hildey. You scared me half to death." Duo scolded. I smiled at him and said, "[giggle] Loosen up a bit, Duo…I'm dying to know the person that send me the bouquet, too, you know."  
  
"So…you mean…you didn't know who send the bouquet to you?" Duo asked in surprise.  
  
"Of course not…silly. At first I thought that it was you, considering you're the only one that knew my favorite flower, but after seeing your expression earlier, I figured that it wasn't you. Must've been someone in my old squad…I guess."  
  
"Well…I don't care whoever it is…I just don't want them sending you anything that could possibly break…our…relationship." Duo stuttered.  
  
I could only stand in confusion, but then…I realized…he was jealous! Duo…jealous! Oh…my…I really didn't think that it was such a big deal, but I guess it was really a sensitive case to him. I smiled once again, and proceeded to give him a little kiss on his cheek. Before he could say anything, I walked away from his office and went upstairs to my room. Just before I entered my room…I heard mumbling again from his office. I sighed, and entered my room.  
  
  
  
The next morning…   
  
  
  
Duo woke up to see his alarm clock pointing at 9:00 o'clock. "HWAAAAAAAAA!! I'm late! I'm late! Agh!" Duo's scream could be heard all around the gargantuan office building. I woke up just to hear him stumble down the stairs and hurting himself from the entire gadget around the office. "Same old Duo…never could keep track of time." I sighed as I make my bed up.  
  
Running towards the front door, Duo yelled a good-bye message to me. 'Hn…this is Sunday…what the heck is he thinking? People might still be asleep." After 2 seconds, the office went absolutely quite…a sign that Duo is gone. "I could've sleep longer…but I have to get lunch ready, or else…it wouldn't be such a good sight." I reminded myself as I recall an incident 2 months ago.  
  
"Okay…let's see here. Potatoes…chicken…beef…spinach. Hmm…I wonder what I should make…none of these materials are suited for my soup, but I have no choice. I guess I'll prepare a baked potato dish with sour cream and onion. That shouldn't take me too long." I hummed Sonata no.14 as I took out some potatoes, some sour cream, and green onions.  
  
  
Rendezvous Point, 930 hours  
  
  
Duo dashed to the meeting room as soon as he disembarked from his new mobile suit. "I'm late!! AAAAA" Duo's shriek could be heard all around the base. Then…from the room not so far away from where Duo's present location is, a pretty tall blonde male came out to dispose his juice container. Though he saw the young man in front of him, Duo was unable to stop himself from colliding onto him. The two men fell down on their backs.  
  
"Ouch…who is that?" The blonde male asked.  
  
"Yo…it's me, Duo! Is that you, Quatre? Long time no see, ol' buddy! How's your business?" Duo asked.  
  
"Oh…hi, Duo! I'm fine, can't believe you actually came…I thought you were going to be absent today for the meeting." Quatre replied calmly while smiling gently and regaining his composure.  
  
"Of course I won't be absent, what made you say that?" Duo replied.  
  
"Well…technically because you have missed about 2/3 of the meeting."  
  
"I DID? Oh my god! When actually did the meeting start?"  
  
"Um…2 hours ago…"  
  
"AAAAAAARGH!!! I knew it! I shouldn't have stayed up late thinking about that mysterious person!!!" Duo yelled.  
  
All the noise irritated a certain person from inside the meeting room. Infuriated, a tall Chinese male came out to yell and lecture the person that made the extremely boisterous noise. As soon as he arrived outside, he looked at Duo and his eyes bulged out. "Whoa!!! It's braid-boy! Late again, I see…"  
  
"Wu-man!! Long time no see, how's Carol and Sally?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?" Wufei replied as he noticed that there's something peculiar about Duo…as if something's missing. Then…he realized that Duo doesn't have his irritating long braid anymore and he looked amazingly similar to Heero except for the color of his eyes and hair, gesture, and face. Unable to hold anymore at the new scenery, Wufei burst out laughing, while Quatre is trying to figure out what just happened to Wufei. Quatre looked at Duo, and finally noticed that Duo has lost his braid, but instead of laughing, Quatre smiled.  
  
"Nice hairdo, Duo. What happened?"  
  
"Nothing…just a little change of scenery"  
  
"Are you sure it's only that? Did Hilde made you do it?"  
  
Duo hung his head down in embarrassment, "Yes…she did. I look like a total weirdo without my braid."  
  
Still smiling, Quatre replied, "You look fine, Duo. In fact, you look fabulous!"  
  
"You're just saying that to make me happy."  
  
"Ha ha ha ha…braid-boy! Trying out to be the next Heero, eh?" Wufei cackled.  
  
  
  
While Wufei is still laughing, the meeting room door opened and out came a pilot wearing a dark green turtleneck and jeans with hair was done in a very unusual way to hide one part of his face. "What's all the noise about? We're about to resume the meeting in 1 minute and Heero is distracted from designing his new program. I could tell you that it won't be a very pretty sight if you guys wouldn't calm down right now. What the…"  
  
"Um… hi Trowa! Long time no see."  
  
"Duo?? What did you do with your hair?"  
  
"Whoa…I never heard you talk this much before, especially the part where you explained about the situation inside the meeting room. You surely have changed after the war."  
  
"Never mind that…what happened?"  
  
"Well…I just went to the mall to change my look, and also because a certain someone forced me to do it."  
  
"Hilde?"  
  
"Yeah…ok…well…I know I'm late, but I need to know what's going on with the mission."  
  
Inside the room, Heero is growing furious. "What the heck's going on out there? They should've been back in a minute ago," Heero mumbled as he went outside to see what happened.  
  
"…Duo, you're late."  
  
"What's up, cynical boy? I know I'm late, so I need info here."  
  
"…We're planning to assault this new leader of the Lions Company…his action is going too far. I assume that if we don't act now, then another war will rage again. We have agreed that we will strike today 5 hours before my wedding. Make sure you are well-equipped, or you might not survive."  
  
"Of course I'll survive, after all…I am the god of death."  
  
"It's set then. Let us resume the meeting and discuss our plan once we entered the building."  
  
"Alright…" The 4 pilots replied in unison as they followed Heero back to the room.  
  
After 15 minutes of discussion, there was an incoming call from Dr. J confirming about their new suits. Grinning, Dr. J explained, "Your suits are finished. You are welcome to pick it up anytime. However, I did not design anything more advanced than the ones that you used during Mariemaia's coup de ta."  
  
"Mission accepted. We will pick it up before our mission."  
  
"Oh yeah! This is great!! I can't wait to see my new suit. I'm definitely naming it Shinigami, after myself."  
  
"Whatever…I'm still naming my suit Nataku."  
  
"Okay…enough talk. We have to move fast."  
  
"Alright…geez!" Duo said as he grudgingly picked up his keys from the table.  
  
Silently, all 5 pilots rushed to their vehicles and drove off to Dr. J's laboratory.  
  
  
Lions Company, 1000 hours  
  
  
  
"How wonderful! This dress is absolutely fabulous Catherine! Thank you for bringing it over in such a short notice." I exclaimed happily as I inspected the chalk-white satin dress with decorated laces as its accessory.  
  
"It's no problem for me. Anyways, I thought that you have a lot of gorgeous dress. What did you do to them? I really adore that peach sundress of yours. That dress is definitely to cute to be true!" Catherine replied.  
  
"Yeah…but I don't think that it's appropriate to wear a sundress to a wedding, don't you think? I mean…after all of these years, I could finally see Relena getting married with Heero. Now…that's one event I can't miss and mess up on."  
  
"True…I mean…they are totally for each other, wonder what kept them apart for almost 3 years. It's just not right. I'm glad that they finally came to their senses."  
  
"Yeah…anyways, what are you going to wear to the wedding? Are you going to fix up your hair? I'm surely are going to fix mine. I mean…I just can't let my hair down, way too old of a style."  
  
"Well…I know what I could do to your hair, but I could only do it if you want me to. I mean…I don't want to impel you in doing this, but I think the kind of hairdo that I'm imagining right now is so you!"  
  
"Well…ok, I guess. Let's see what you got in mind…" I complied.  
  
Catherine grinned and stood up to search her bag for some certain accessories that she had brought along. "I knew you would agree, so I brought these along." Catherine said as she pulled out a gargantuan jewelry box filled with hair accessory, necklace, etc.  
  
"Whoa! How'd you manage to carry that in your bag? It's gigantic!"  
  
"Can't judge by appearance, right? My bag has special pockets that allow it to carry more."  
  
"Yeah…that's so right! I wish Duo could learn that. He's been judging way too many things by its appearance, and that's the main reason why I have to dress up so often."  
  
'She needs help…definitely…I'll confirm Trowa as soon as he got back. These 2 people definitely don't know how they felt about each other. Hm…on second thought, I'll just let all the girls know. They will know what to do about these two.'  
  
"What's that you said, Catherine?"  
  
"No…nothing…I didn't say anything. Now…hold still…and close your eyes until I tell you to open it."  
  
"Alright…" I complied.  
  
I could feel my hair brushed ever so gently and all the knots that was there before were gone. My hair feels refreshed…then…I could feel that my hair was raised up above, letting the breeze to pass through my neck.  
  
"Alright…all done! You could put anything you want for the accessory. I only put pearls with silver embroidery. Hope that's ok." Catherine smiled once more.  
  
"You're a wizard, Catherine. This hairdo is totally to die for. What is it?"  
  
"My special: The Fairy Twist. In this world, I'm the only that can do it so far because I created it."  
  
"Wow…I just love how you got my ever so messy hair into something this great. I especially like how the twist turns out to look like a fairy's wing at the top. The pearl accessory really matches it."  
  
"You're flattering me. [giggle] But…since you put it that way, I guess I could accept the compliment. Now…I have to get ready. Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"  
  
"No…go ahead! You know that you could use anything here. I'm still astounded at how you managed to arrange my hair." I answered as I observed the magic that has occurred to my hair.  
  
A few minutes later, Catherine came out with an elegant yet casual light peach embroidered with creamy flower laces. She didn't do anything to her hair except for the peach and strawberry hairpin.  
  
"Alright…I'm ready. Let's go to the party and wait for our 'perfect' gentlemen to arrive there. I want to see Relena's wedding dress. I bet it's going to be absolutely gorgeous."  
  
"Yeah…it should be, or else I'm going to hurt Heero." I grinned sinisterly as Catherine smirked at me.  
  
"Ok then, let's go!" Catherine said as I turned off the main light power. We calmly strolled through the garden in front and chatted the whole way until we arrive at Catherine's car and journeyed to the Eidolonia Cathedral.  
  
  
  
Siberia Battleground, 1100 hours.   
  
  
  
As soon as Duo and the others obtained their mobile suits from Dr. J, they directly went to Siberia to deal with the little rodent that possessed a great threat to Earth's peace.  
  
"Alright…let's blast this join, and hurry back. I definitely don't want to be late for your wedding, Heero." Duo said jokingly.  
  
"Relax, Duo. We have 2 more hours to go. Rushing into things aren't too good for you, you know?" Quatre said calmly.  
  
"…Let's go." Heero commanded.  
  
The battle was easy won for the enemy was wearing none other than the old-fashioned Serpent Customs and Virgos.  
  
"This is way too easy…there might be a trap ahead." Wufei warned.  
  
"Yeah…" Duo agreed.  
  
Suddenly, from behind Duo…a defected mobile doll appeared. The condition of the doll wasn't too good, and the red light above its head is turning on and off.  
  
"Shoot! It's going to blow up on me…Ergh…the control is stuck."  
  
Duo's Gundam wasn't able to move and the mobile doll self-destructed. Though Shinigami is made from Gundamium alloy, it wasn't able to receive a direct blast from behind and Shinigami exploded.  
  
"What the—DUO!!!!!!!!!!!!" Quatre could feel himself yelling.  
  
"This isn't supposed to happen. Is he…dead? Duo…can you read me?" Heero silently mumbled to himself.  
  
"He can't read you anymore, Heero. The signal is dead. All we can do now is wait in case there was a miracle. I surely don't want to be delivering this bad news to Hilde. She will faint and will lose her spirit to live. That would be a bad thing to happen in a wedding day." Trowa confirmed.  
  
After a few minutes, there wasn't any trace or sign of Duo's existence. His mobile suit and himself are buried under pieces of the defected mobile doll and the rage of fire is still burning on the place where the mobile doll had destructed itself. Heero had tried searching…but with the raging fire, it is impossible for him to search among the scattered rubles. The 4 remaining pilots remained silence and returned back to the laboratory.  
  
On the way, none of the pilots spoke a word. They could not speak a word, for their mission has failed.  
  
"Mission…failed…we screwed up." Heero finally said across the intercom.  
  
"Argh…this isn't happening…I refuse to believe it. I can't believe it anymore…I've lost another person that cared for me. If only I had ran over there to brush off the mobile doll…I could've…saved Duo."  
  
"Stop blaming yourself, Quatre…it's not your fault. It's no one's fault. One thing that you have to do is to believe that that's the way battles are. You are gambling your life by going into battle." Trowa comforted a now depressed Quatre.  
  
Meanwhile, back at the battlefield, a rescue vehicle was spotted and they were managing to pull something out of the rubles. "I swore I saw something moving here…maybe it's a soldier or an animal. We just have to get it out of there. It sounds like it was in a lot of pain. Come on…can't you do it any quicker?"  
  
"We're trying, Ms. Kotori, but these blocks are so heavy! I never expected that there would be a battle here, especially after the peace was regained."  
  
"As long as humans live, there would be battle. That's just the way it is. Now, come on! We have to get it out of there." Kotori rushed.  
  
After 2 minutes of pulling and tugging, the rescue team succeeded to get Duo out of the rubles. However, something is definitely wrong with him.  
  
"You're a soldier! Oh my god! I was right! Oh…my…he's hurt…come on…get him on the ambulance. He looks like he's almost dead."  
  
And so…Duo was carried to the ambulance, along with him came Kotori. "Gosh…this is so cool! I never dreamt to meet a soldier before. Wait a minute; this is not the time to celebrate. He's hurt, and I have to take care of him. Hm…I'll ask Grandpa if I could nurse him at his house. Yeah…brilliant idea."   
  
  
Eidolonia Cathedral, 1200 hours   
  
  
The 4 pilots came out of their dressing room looking absolutely gloomy, like there was no tomorrow ahead of them. Confused, Catherine went to Trowa and questioned him. Soon…after a couple of words, Catherine's mind went blank and she looked at me. Smiling, I looked back at her…she was now in the verge of tears. I quickly ran to her, and…suddenly that news came to my ear.  
  
"Hilde…I don't know how to…say this…but…I'm afraid that…Duo's mobile suit exploded…and…he was buried under the ruble…I'm so sorry…"  
  
"What…? Duo? No…that's impossible. He said he'll come back…no…"  
  
The entire universe suddenly went empty…I just can't believe what I heard…I don't want to believe it…  
  
'Duo can't die…he just can't…I won't believe it!' I screamed to myself, and suddenly everything became blurry.  
  
"Hilde…Hilde? Akh…Hilde! Someone…help her!" Traces of Relena's voice were ringing in my ear as I silently fell into the darkness and to the coldness of the ground…  
  
  
AN: I just have to be a meanie, huh? Well…finally completed it. Took me quite a while, but this one is just so hard to get an idea for. Yup, I know it's getting lame, but if you have any C&C, they're all welcomed at aerial@mechpilot.com or aerial@mechpilot.com. However, if you want to flame me, go ahead. I would not read it though, you have been warned :P.  



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